Abstract

It is well known that any kind of green leaf when incorporated into the soil adds organic matter to it, in addition to augmenting the nitrogen supply. There are so many varieties of plants that provide green manure that there is abso- lutely no restriction as to the choice of leaves. However, there appears to be a belief in the minds of farmers that particular kinds of green leaves play a greater part in enhancing the yield of paddy than others. It has also often been reported that some kinds of leaves have the property of rectifying or mitigating the saline or alkaline condition of soils. To see if this popular belief is based on facts the following studies were carried out, as it is reasonable to expect that the quality of any green leaf manure would depend upon ita succulence, easy decomposability and nitrogen content.

Keywords: